The Mightiest Beast
by noxerin
Summary: The story of brave Gwendolyn Bradshaw and how she was part of what happened in the HP saga. Lots of OCs ensued, you have been warned :D
1. Prologue

**Verona, Italy**

"Gwen, it's here!" shouted a skinny girl. running towards a brick wall in the middle of the piazza. "Come on, I want to pick my letter!"

Juliet's Wall was a brick construction in Verona, where people pinned letters asking for Juliet Capulet's advice on love affairs. The tradition was that one had to pick a letter from the wall and answer it's sender, in the name of Juliet. It was something the Bradshaw cousins had been looking forward to doing ever since they set foot on the Treviso.

"Okay," said Gwen "Who's... Yeah, go on Ruby, read the letter you've ALREADY chosen."

With a sly smile the youngest flipped open the lid of a baby blue envelope. "Right, it's from someone called Bella. She wants to know whether she stays with her stoic, frigid boyfriend or if she should swap him for her loving, hot best friend... What's stoic anyways?" Ruby asked, incredulous.

Gwen laughed off the letter and her cousin's comment and got ready to pick her letter. Her hazel eyes considered every option, and finally settled on a white envelope with a red wax seal.

"This one looks interesting, I wonder..." And suddenly she stopped. Gwen flipped the card over and over, without a word.

"What's up, cuz?" Asked Ruby, fidgeting with curiosity.

It took a few seconds for Gwen to pull herself together, and when she finally spoke, she was still a bit confused. "It's... It's not a a letter to Juliet. It's for ME."

Gwen showed her cousin the letter where she could clearly read "Gwendolyn Bradshaw, presently in Verona, Italy. No sender... It's a b it creepy, if you ask me."

At that exact moment, Gwen's parents and Ruby's little sister met up with the girls at the wall They were all slurping deliciously looking strawberry gelattos.

"Hey Mom," said Gwen, never taking her eyes off the mysterious letter. "Take a look at this."

The woman took the letter with her free hand, and let out a snicker. "Honey, is this a joke? Because..." Then she noticed the wax seal. Two things happened at the same time: Gwen's mom's ice cream made a descent straight to the ground and she looked at her daughter as seriously as someone who'd be attending a funeral.

"We need to talk."

* * *

_**A/N: **__Yeah, I hate writing stories with OCs, but something inside me decided it was time to try. This fic is intertwined with _Soaring Black Bird, Snakebites Don't Hurt, Striped Furry Tail _(or however it is going to be called :D) and another one that I really can't recall the title. Sorry, guise :/_

_And there you have it. Me, epically failing at a prologue. Watch me now as I try to unfold this into lots of chapters..._


	2. Something About Us

They had been driving for hours now, nonstop. The only solace one could find was watching the beautiful Italian countryside slip by.

Gwen was resting her head against the passenger seat's window. "Mom," she mumbled "Are we there yet?"

Her Mom chuckled. "You just asked that ten minutes ago. Anyways, it's just around the corner. See that little cottage?"

She needn't see it to know it was her grandma's house. The fresh _crostoli _smell would always greet her even before she could make out the shape of the plump woman waving from the doorstep.

"Gwendolyn, _bella_! I've been waiting for you!" The old woman said, excitedly, while Gwen flung her arms around her.

"It's so good to see you, granny. We've so much to talk about." The girl whispered, tightening the hug.

When they finally let go, Helena turned to her daughter. "Long time no see. I reckon Ruby stayed with your husband, _cierto_?"

"Yes," the woman answered, moodily. "She was a bit sad that she didn't get called to Hogwarts too, so she decided to stick with her sister."

Helena scrutinized her daughter for a while. Motioning them to go inside, she finally said, "Well, come in, or the cookies are going to get cool."

If you've ever entered the home of an old person, you know how nostalgic it feels. Everything is so organized, color-coordinated and everything either smells of cakes or soap. Well, Helena's house was very much like that, except for the tidiness bit. In Helena's house, all the sofa cushions were strewn around the floor and there were toy cars in every imaginable place. This was because one of her grandchildren was always running around the house, and, oh, she had plenty of those.

Gwen plopped down on a pinkish sofa, and started tapping her foot in anxiety and her Mom came to sit besides her. Soon enough Helena came out of the kitchen with a silver plate of deliciously looking _crostoli._

_ "_Well, bella, I believe you want to know everything about your new school, eh?"

Gwen only nodded, nibbling on a cookie.

Helena crossed her legs and looked intently at the child. "The first thing you need to know is that I've studied in the same school. When I was eleven, your age, an owl delivered the same mysterious letter to me. That came as no surprised, I come from a lineage of witches and wizards."

She stopped there for a moment, waiting for Gwen to react. The girl kept a poker face all the time.

"Right. The thing is, when I married your grandfather, may God have mercy on his soul," she continued "I broke a family tradition. He wasn't a wizard, he was a muggle. That's how we call those who aren't magical. When your mother turned eleven and didn't get the letter, we were all very disappointed. We thought we would never have a wizard on the family again. But apparently, your father might have had a troll for an uncle, which triggered the wizardry gene on you."

"What about Ruby," Gwen inquired "Does she have it?"

Helena pondered that thought for a while. "She might have. She might not. The world spins in wondrous ways, doesn't it?" And she took a cookie from the table.

"Well, now you probably want to know what is 'the selection'. There are four distinct houses in Hogwarts, and you will be analyzed and put into one of them, according to your personality. There is Gryffindor, land of the brave and chivalrous; Ravenclaw, where the smart and witty fraternize. That's the best house, in my opinion." She completed, with a wink. Gwen's Mom emitted a sort of grunt, upon hearing that.

"And what are the other two hoses, granny?" Gwen was completely absorbed by Helena's story.

"The final two are Slytherin, den of the ambitious and cunning; and finally Hufflepuff, where those who are loyal and play fair reside." She finished, triumphantly.

With a chuckle Gwen stated. "Oh, right, the house of the stupid."

"Don't you say that, bella! Just because they don't do anything special, it doesn't mean they're stupid!" Her grandmother reprimanded her, but the girl knew she wasn't serious. Helena was known to make some harsh jokes, which made it clear that Gwen was a chip off the old block.

Grabbing the last _crostoli_, Gwen only said, "Well, I guess it's obviously clear that I'm going to Slytherin. That is just so **me.**"

At that point, the Mom had already given up on the conversation, and was filing her nails. But for some reason, her daughter's last sentence had caught her attention. "I bet a dollar you're not going to S... Whatever it is. You like to say you have evil tendencies, but you're not that evil, Gwen. I bet you a dollar you're going to the house of the brave."

"It's too early to say anything, girls. But first, Gwen, you must come with me, so we can get you the most important tool of a wizard."

"And what would that be?" The girl asked excitedly.

"That would be a wand."

***

Traveling by Flu network was an easy, fast way of going places and didn't hurt at all. That is, if you weren't absolutely clumsy like Gwen, who fell and literally rolled out of the fireplace and into the crowded Flourish & Blott's. Helena came right after, and exited the mantle piece with such grace that almost made everyone forget there was a girl covered in soot by her side. Almost.

"Hm. Are you alright?" Asked a boy with black, ruffled hair.

"I'm... I'm quite alright, yeah." Gwen managed to say, untangling her auburn hair with her fingers.

The boy looked down to his feet and mumbled "There's soot on your cheeks."

And that was it for Gwendolyn. She started laughing uncontrollably. "Well, there's soot everywhere! Oh man, I surely know how to make an entrance..."

That comment even got a chuckle out of the shy boy. "I'm Viktor, by the way. Viktor Krum," he said in a heavy, probably Russian accent.

"I'm Gwendolyn." The girl said, flashing him a smile. "But you can call me Gwen."

At that moment, Helena decided to interrupt the two kids. "Bella, I'm going to the bank and then I'll get your books and supplies. Why don't you and your new friend go around the Alley and buy the wand? Maybe a pet too. That is, if he doesn't mind." She said, eying him with a look that you just can't say no to.

"Sure. I mean, I don't really have anything to do right now..." He said, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Gwen's eyes lit up at the prospective of a new friend. "Really?" She squealed. "Cool! You seem older, you could tell me all you know about Hogwarts!" She said, as they walked out the store.

"Vell, I'm not from Hogvarts. I come from Bulgary, and I got to Durmstrang, vich is really just like your school, but someplace else... Gvendolyn, here's the vands shop."

Gwen laughed. "'Gvendolyn'? Ha, I love your accent. Mind if I copy it?" And she said those last words in a weird, funny accent that might have been Russian, and might have been something completely different. All of the shyness present in the boy was gone after that.

On that note, they entered Ollivander's wand shop, and Viktor waved at the owner.

"Hay, son! Came in for a wand?" Said the old goblin/dwarf/thing.

"No," the boy said. "It is for my friend, Gven. She's starting at Hogvarts this year."

Ollivander looked straight into the girl's hazel eyes and pronounced. "Well, I think I know just where to start from!" And he went down a huge aisle stuffed with small boxes. He pulled an emerald green one with a pearly shine. Inside there was a glossy mahogany wand.

"Dear, just flick it and we'll see what happens." He instructed and looked ready to duck if anything bad happened.

Gwen flicked it. Nothing. She did it again. Nothing. Nothing rides again. The son of Nothing.

With a sigh from the old man and a giggle from Krum, they proceeded with the experimenting of wands, all failing, one after the other. Finally, Ollivander came back with a red velvet box, where inside sat a polished copper wand.

"Try this one."

With a sigh, Gwen took the wand out of the box and flicked it, unwillingly. This time, instead of nothing, golden sparks came out of the wand's tip and blinded the three for a moment. When the light faded, Ollivander had a pleased expression on his face.

"Well well. 9⅓ inches, maple, dragon heartstring. Specially good for hexes, use it well, young lady."

"Hey, that's cool!" Viktor said, smiling. "Just like my vand!" And he showed the girl his wand: it had a beige coloration, and it looked a bit bent to the side.

And with that, the kids bade their farewells to the shop owner and went out, looking for a pet for Gwen.

***

"So, this is the, um, pet shop?" Asked Gwen, a bit weirded out by the scruffiness of the place.

With a shrug, Viktor said that it was the only store around town that sold pets of all kinds: from cats to owls, from birds to snakes.

At that moment, a blonde girl inside the store stomped her feet and begged her mother. "MOM! It's just another snake!" To which her mother wagged a finger. "You already have Brownie and Muffin, that's enough of slithering creatures in my house!"

Viktor chuckled. "Snakes? That's not vot I vould call pets... Vot vill you take, Gven? A cat? You look like you vould own a cat..." He trailed off when he saw the girl's perky expression.

Biting her lower lip, Gwen said. "I want a spider."

"A spider??" said the boy, poleaxed. "That's not a common pick..."

Gwen suppressed a laugh. "I know, it's just..."

"GWENDOLYN BRADSHAW!" Screamed an elderly voice. "What took you so long??" Inquired Helena, juggling a pile of books. "Have you got your wand? And your pet?"

"Yes, ma'am, the wand's here, but the pet..."

"I'm getting her a pet." Said Viktor.

Gwen stared at him, arching an eyebrow. "How, how will you...?"

For the first time, Viktor looked her straight in the eyes. "Ve vill meet at the station. I'm taking a different train that yours, but ve vill meet nonetheless."

Gwen smiled. "Right, see you then." And taking her grandmother's hand, she walked out of the Alley, heading to the hotel they'd be staying.

Gwendolyn was happy. She was going to a new, fantastical school. She was going to learn interesting things. She had just made a very nice friend.

And she was getting a spider.

* * *

_A/N: Oh well, here's the first chapter (finally, I must add). I think I got overexcited with the Diagon Alley, but I had fun. Plus, sorry for all the crappy Neil Gaiman allusions made here. I couldn't help it, and believe it, there's so much more to come :D Oh yes, and sorry for the stupid Krum-accent attempt. I just couldn't resist._

_Also, I think I didn't give enough credits to those who inspired this fic. Read **nicegirl100's **_**Soaring Black Bird, **_**Lalis's **_**Snakebites Don't Hurt, **_**benedeath's **_**Striped Furry Tail **_and **Otacraze92's **_**Thorny Scarlet Rose **_(all in Portuguese)._

_Thanks for sticking with me and, please, review!_


End file.
